ON THE SCREEN By Harold Whitehead A rather ordinary stage musical, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, has been turner! into a very bright film and may currently be seen at Loew's. Once one has recovered from the initial shock ef seeing Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in the same film, one reaUzes that both girls turn in very good performances. The Sea Around Us, at Her Majesty's, comes next on the list of new productions around town. About all that is left of Rachel Carson's superb book is the title but the film, in its own right, shows some spectacular scenes of life under the ever-changing surface of the sea. The Story Of Three Loves, a quite pretentious triple-story affair, hold.; the screen at the Palace while Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis dish up some more of their particular brand of comedy at the Capitol in an item called Scared Stiff. Rhonda Fleming and William Lundigan co-star in Inferno, a 3-D adventure story at the Princess and Rock Hudson and Yvonne Be Carlo supply the romantic interest in a swashbuckler called The Sea Devil at the Imperial. Other new films are Turn The Key Softly, at the Avenue, My Wife's Lodger, at the Kent, and Man From The Alamo t the Outremont, Snowdon and Strand. The only two hold-overs are Riz Amrr, goin2 second week at the Alouctto. and The Seven Deadly Sins which is entering t rerord-breakjng 11th week at the Avon. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes A couple of years ago while In New York, we went to see Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, then Just winding up a long run at Billy Rose's Ziegfjeld Theatre, and what we law, to our mind, u not at all impressive. We were not prepared, then, to be any more Impressed by the screen version of the musical, but the film producers had a very pleasant surprise In store for us. Though the atmosphere of the Roaring "20'. which was the big thing in the stage show, has been completely ignored, it has been replaced by some good smooth comedy and a couple of excellent eharacterisations. Who ever thought of co-starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell as Lorelei and Dorothy deserves baskets full of awards, citations and medals for inspired casting. The cameras gloat over the ample proportions of the two toothsome beauties and they In turn gloat over their parts and have, a wonderful time changing costumes for every sequence and nut-doing each other in undulating about flirting with every male In sight. All the steamy doings, however, are lightened by the attitude the girl's take to the film. Right from the start they play the siren with a dash of healthy humor. They, at times, seem to be satirizing both the characters they are playing and their own screen personalities. The one or two memorable tunes from the stage score ret a good play with Miss Monroe romlng through as a fine vocalist (he does her own singing).
